Free toy testing for toxic ingredients

If all the toys recalls have you looking suspiciously at the Tonka trucks and Curious George dolls on your shelves at home, you can bring them to various locations around Puget Sound next weekend for free testing for dangerous chemicals.

This week, a coalition of environmental groups released a database of 1,200 toys tested for lead and other potentially harmful ingredients. One third of toys tested contained lead, and 17 percent had lead levels above the legal limit of 600 parts per million.

I wrote a story about the database and coming legislation to increase toy safety, but wasn’t able to delve into the health concerns of one of the ingredients. They’re called phthalates and are used to soften plastic toys and shower curtains and in lotions and perfumes, particularly as an ingredient in fragrances in these items.

A University of Washington scientist has studied phthalates and kids. Early next year, Sheela Sathyanarayana is publishing a paper on the link between high phthalate levels in the urine of infants and the use of baby lotions, soaps and powder.

“Phthalates are never labeled in products, there’s no mandatory labeling because likely it’s not an active ingredient,” she said in a recent interview. “Because it’s not mandatory, people would never know it’s in the products.”

And what risk do phthalates pose?

In people, the chemical is linked to changes in the anal-penile distance in male babies and abnormal levels of reproductive hormones following exposure in the mother. Similar results are found in studies with rats, where scientists also found testicular tumors, undescended testis and penile abnormalities.

In children, abnormalities in allergy response — namely runny noses — and wheezing and eczema, are associated with exposure to phthalates in house dust.

The tests being offered around the Sound will use an XRF analyzer, a high-tech x-ray gun that can detect the presence of toxic chemicals. You can find dates and locations on the website for Darcy Burner, who’s paying for the testing and running for Congress against Rep. Dave Reichert.

Toy industry representatives criticize the use of the device, which detects whether a chemical is present, but not necessarily if a child will be exposed to it. Tests preferred by industry use solutions to simulate saliva and digestion, or attempt to dissolve the surface coating.